178 We’re also fans of these photos.

178 We're also fans of these photos.

"I'm really sorry for keeping everyone waiting."

Yumeko, her face glowing with a bright flush, looked like a perfectly ripened peach. Her already voluptuous figure, like a peach, was even more enchanting after being drenched in water. Every movement she made exuded an irresistible charm.

With an unruffled expression, she took the napkin that Miharutaki Sakura handed her, gracefully wiped her mouth, and cleaned off the faint milk-white stain at the corner of her lips.

"Ahem."

Hikigaya, unusually flushed, felt uneasy under the intense gaze of the women around him. His thin skin couldn't handle the direct stares.

It was all Yumeko's fault. Even though he had already emphasized to her that the other women outside the folding screen were waiting for them, she insisted on... well, whatever. But after it was all over, she even said she would help clean up. Wasn't this just adding more fuel to a dying fire?

Especially the way Miharutaki and Naoko were staring at him, it felt like they wanted to devour him. This made Hikigaya even more uncomfortable.

He cleared his throat, both to distract himself and to shift the attention of the women.

He turned to Rokujou Eneru, who had an embarrassed expression: "Rokujou Eneru, you wouldn't want your photo to be leaked, would you?"

"W-What do you want?" Rokujou Eneru, who had initially wanted to confront Hikigaya bravely, suddenly blushed when she remembered the horrifying sounds from earlier. Her momentum faltered.

She mumbled softly, "It's not that I won't, but it can only be for you to use."

"What did you say?"

"Give me back my photo!"

"Then... what's the price?"

At this moment, Hikigaya was fully in control. He had already calculated Rokujou Eneru's mindset.

A high-attack, low-defense girl, who spoke as if she would give up everything for the sake of photography. But when the possibility of her photo being leaked came into play, she panicked.

"I'll return the photo I got earlier," Rokujou Eneru said with a pained look. "I won't carry out Mibuomi's orders either, and the baseball club will remain as it is."

Hikigaya waved his finger: "No, that's not enough."

"Don't go too far, Hikigaya! Are you not satisfied with all this for just one photo?"

"Come with me to the broadcasting room and declare your defeat. The content should be that you lost to me and Miharutaki Sakura-senpai. And note, it should say that we 'defeated you together,' leaving room for imagination."

"Th-This..."

Rokujou Eneru subconsciously looked at Miharutaki Sakura, who had her hands folded on her lap and wore a saintly expression, completely different from the seductive look she had in the baseball club. She didn't react at all to Hikigaya's plan of turning her into a plaything.

Rokujou Eneru felt conflicted. If she did this, it would mean a complete break with the Full-Bloom Association.

She knew Mibuomi's plans for the uprising.

If Mibuomi won the struggle and took control of the student council, what would happen to her?

'I would probably face the most severe reckoning... maybe even be pressured to withdraw from school.'

Seeing her conflicted expression, Hikigaya could see right through her thoughts: "Do you think President Momobami will lose? Lose to Mibuomi?"

"What if? If President Momobami loses, I'll be finished for betraying Mibuomi."

"I don't know about that. All I know is that if you don't agree to me now, tomorrow you might be finished~," Hikigaya said leisurely.

As the victor, he had the power to force the girl into making a choice. Psychological counseling or reasoning with emotions was unnecessary.

The consequence of trying to play both sides was being the first to be eliminated.

'This shameless guy!' Rokujou Eneru bit her teeth and shot Hikigaya a resentful look. Weakly, she said, "Fine, I'll go with you now."

She stood up and walked toward the door.

Suddenly, she stopped, as if she remembered something, her pupils widened. She turned around abruptly and scanned the space between Hikigaya and Miharutaki.

"By the way... the guy with the ID Rainy Night with a Knife from the campus forum a few days ago, that wouldn't be you, right?"

She had been puzzled by the strange relationship between the two, and also by how Mibuomi had announced with a dark face at an internal meeting that Miharutaki Sakura was a traitor. If that's the case, everything would make sense!

In fact, she was also a fan of these photo.

When she saw that post on the campus forum late one night, she had stayed awake for a long time, excited.

All she could think about was becoming the photographer for this Rainy Night with a Knife.

'So that perfect body with a thick censoring layer was actually Miharutaki-senpai?!' Rokujou Eneru's confusion cleared up, and her eyes burned with intensity as she stared at Miharutaki Sakura. "Sorry if this is too forward, but could you invite me next time when you do that?"

"I'm a professional when it comes to photography, even with the censoring~ The photos in that post still had some imperfections. If I, the photography club president, took them, it would definitely drive Mibuomi mad!"

She seemed to have forgotten that her own photo was still in Hikigaya's hands. Eagerly, she ran over to the two of them and tightly grabbed Miharutaki's hand.

Seeing this, she blushed and couldn't help but turn her head away: "If Hikigaya-sama is willing…"

"...." Watching the reactions of the two women, Hikigaya realized what "the most venomous woman's heart" meant. Also, fearing Yumeko might misunderstand, he explained, "Those were all staged shots. Nothing substantive happened. Many of the poses were achieved through camera tricks."

"I see..." Rokujou Eneru looked slightly disappointed. She had hoped to fulfill her dream of becoming a photographer for this. "It's fine, even if it was staged!"

"Alright then, after you fulfill your conditions in the broadcasting room, come with me."

Hikigaya no longer hesitated and immediately made the decision.

He had successfully turned two Full-Bloom Association female officers against each other, and now, Rainy Night with a Knife 2.0 would be launching. How would Mibuomi's face look under the double blow?

Hikigaya couldn't wait.

"Then let's go!" Rokujou Eneru pushed open the photography club's door with enthusiasm. Her cheerful demeanor made it impossible to tell who had won and who had lost.

..

.

.

"Hello, everyone at Hyakkaou Academy."

"I'm the president of the photography club, Rokujou Eneru. In the final round of my game at the Great Bloom Festival, I and my partner Shimizu-san lost to Hikigaya Hachiman and Miharutaki Sakura-senpai."

"During the game..."

"Transparent, fair, and open..."

"Here, I, Rokujou Eneru, publicly admit that my gambling skills are not as good as Miharutaki-senpai's!"

"That's all!"

To cooperate with Hikigaya Hachiman's performance, Rokujou Eneru intentionally emphasized her reluctant tone, making people instinctively think that she lost the gamble because of Miharutaki Sakura. Not because of Hikigaya Hachiman, the kept boy of the vice president.

And why Miharutaki Sakura participated in such an ambiguous game with Hikigaya...

Well, that was something for the students of Hyakkaou Academy to imagine.